


Shaking Things Up

by Theonewhosawitall



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Claustrophobia, Earthquakes, Fear, Gen, Memory Lane, Nostalgia, Ohana, Protective, Season 1 based ish, Trapped, Uncle Steve McGarrett, Uncle-Niece Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27541681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: Steve isn't very good with kids. They worry him. He avoids them. But he's got a partner who's daughter is the most important thing in his life. Danny won't leave Grace alone in the office so asks Steve to look after her."Just for ten minutes."Shame that earthquake had to shake things up.
Relationships: Duke Lukela & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett & Grace Williams
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	Shaking Things Up

Ever since the incident where he used the barrel of his gun to press elevator buttons in front of a kid because he was too in focus on the mission to fully register the child as a civilian in America, not in Afghanistan in need of armed protection, Steve avoided kids. 

It wasn't active avoidance, he just kept his distance. The switch back to America was harder than he had expected. Kids in Afghanistan were either armed or in danger of being so. It was hard to look at a child and not see a child solider.

Avoiding them was surprisingly easy, alone. Harder when with Danny. He appeared to be magnetically drawn to them. He was the one who reached out, bypassing social services to stop a toddler crying, or to leave a whole crime scene because the victims kid was on his way home from school and Danny didn’t want him to walk into this.

Danny dealt with kids and Steve focused on the crimes.

If he needed Danny's help with that, Kono was there. She had earned her title of Aunt. Chin was about as good with kids as Steve, but he could step up when he needed to. If worst came to worse there was always Kamekona. He looked after Grace so often these days that he was thinking of opening an onsite after school club to branch out. He decides against it when Grace hustled him out of thirty dollars in poker and a solemn promise that Danny would never find out.

The point is, Steve was doing a great job at not having to face the facts that children were a weak spot for him.

Right up until Danny leaned on the door as he walked into Steve's office. 

"Hey, Steve-" he began.

"Hey Danny, what's-" Steve looked up. His heart missed a beat to see Grace follow him. He grinned, "Gracie! Aloha."

Grace gave him a small smile and waved, "Hi Uncle Steve."

She stayed close to Danny's legs as she held onto his hand. She knew Steve well enough to know he was trustworthy, but she didn't really know him. All the time they spent together were a few minutes before she went to play with Kamekona and Kono. Even now he didn't look thrilled to see her. 

"What’s uh, what's going on huh? Is it take your daughter to work day already?" Steve joked.

"No, no, Grace's school finished early today, didn't it monkey, and Rachel's too busy to pick her up, so since it's my weekend I figured she could wait here with me while I finished up some paperwork-" Danny explained.

Steve's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "Here?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded, "well, in my office not- not _here,_ but in this building, yeah."

"Oh, right. Great!" It was easier to look happy when he knew he wouldn't have to interact with her much.

"You enjoying seeing your dad work huh?"

"Not really," Grace shrugged.

Danny pouted. It wasn't like he actually thought she'd enjoy being stuck in his office while he worked, but hearing her say it was still disappointing. Steve chuckled as he glanced at Danny.

"Well this isn't the fun bit, you should see the weapons dispensary," He said.

Danny glared at him. "No, no she should not - why would you- no."

Steve grinned wider as Grace giggled at his reaction too. Danny rolled his eyes at the both of them.

"look, I have to run check some details with evidence and I don’t wanna leave Grace unsupervised-" he began.

"Oh well Kono should be back from lunch in a minute," Steve said.

"Alright, well, I was gonna ask if you could watch her," Danny said.

Steve's heart missed a beat again. "Me?"

"That's not a problem is it?" Danny asked cautiously. 

To disagree would mean admitting that kids worried him. That he wasn't hoping as perfectly with reintegration as he liked to pretend. Although if he thought Danny didn’t already know what, he was insane. The man had used a hand grenade to break down a gate that could have been cut off with wire cutters. The adjustment struggles were clear. 

"No, no, I suppose not," Steve said.

"Cool, I'll be about ten minutes. Be good for uncle Steve monkey alright, I love you," Danny ruffled her hair as he let go of her hand.

She tried hard not to look disappointed that he was leaving her. Again. "Yes Danno."

"And Steve?" He said.

Steve raised his chin, "Yes Danno?"

"Do not take her to the weaponry," Danny warned.

"You're no fun," Steve smirked.

Danny groaned inwardly. He walked away from room and crossed the office to head for the door. Steve and Grace turned to watch him go. Steve gulped. He desperately hoped that Danny would turn around and hurry right back.

Danny hesitated at the door. He considered turning back and waiting for Kono. Steve had never done anything to make Danny doubt he'd look after Grace just fine - in fact from the moment he met her they seemed to click instantly - but when he was focused on a mission all else went out the window. Danny was just a little concerned that if a mission came in Steve might forget Grace was in his office. But he shook that from his head. After all, he'd only be gone ten minutes.

What could go wrong in ten minutes?

Five minutes in he got his answer when the world started shaking around him. Grace whimpered softly as the couch shuddered. When she looked up to his uncle for support, his face was stern. It was not at all reassuring. Neither spoke after the first rumble. But the second shook them so hard that Grace fell off the couch and Steve leapt into action. 

"Get under the desk Gracie, quick!"

He grabbed her arm just a little too hard as he hurried her towards his desk. 

"Was that an earthquake?" She asked anxiously. 

Steve laid a hand on her head to avoid her hurting herself as he helped her duck under his desk for safety. He flashed her a reassuring smile as he crawled in beside her.

"Don't worry, I prepare for things like this."

Grace whimpered again as Steve held out a hand on each side of the desk in a vague attempt to stabilise it as though the ground wasn't quaking beneath them. Grace clung onto his shirt tightly. Steve let one hand slip down to hold her tight too.

Boxes came tumbling off of the shelves around Duke and Danny as they stood with their backs against the wall, where they would avoid anything falling on their heads. All he could think of was Grace and Steve upstairs. When the quakes had passed, there was a moment of stillness. Everyone was frozen in place, waiting hesitantly to see if it was all over. As soon as he was certain that it was over - at least over enough for him to get back upstairs to Grace - Danny hurriedly climbed over the knocked down shelves to get to the cage gate.

"Uh, you don’t wanna do that-" Duke began. 

Danny slammed into the bars. His eyes widened as he shook it. The gate showed no signs of opening. Duke rested his hands on his hips.

"That's not going to work," he said, calmly.

Danny's fingers wrapped through the gate. His chest felt tight as he felt the walls start slowly closing in around him.

"Are we stuck?" He asked nervously.

"Is that a problem?" Duke asked.

Danny groaned helplessly as he dropped his head against the bars. He was trapped in the same building as his daughter with no access to her and his Claustrophobia was setting in.

"How long till we get out?" He asked. 

"Just as soon as the security checks are completed to keep the evidence safe. Could be ten minutes could be three hours. I'd settle in if I was you," Duke warned. 

"That's... that's not gonna be easy," Danny gulped. 

Duke chuckled knowingly, "First quake?"

"Claustrophobia."

"Oh. Well keep breathing and try not to panic."

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew Duke was trying to help but it wasn’t helpful. At least he wasn’t alone in this. But he had to get out of this to get back to Grace.

Steve's grip on Grace loosened as the rumbling stopped. Grace's grip on him didn’t. She looked around nervously.

"Is it over?" She whispered.

"I think so," Steve nodded. "Stay here."

Grace was reluctant to be left behind but it was safer hidden here than outside and that she felt it.   
Steve crawled out first and looked around the room. The certificates he had framed and hung on the wall had fallen to the floor, and a few other things had been knocked down but nothing looked damaged. He breathed a sigh of relief and reached for the door.

The handle rattled.

Nothing happened.

Steve frowned. He tried again and the door still didn’t budge. Curious of the noise, Grace crawled out from underneath the desk. She knelt up to look over it and watch him arguing with the door.

"Is the ceiling supposed to look like that?" She asked, uncertainly.

Steve looked up. "Uh..."

The ceiling above the door was cracked. Where it had broken, part of the plaster was blocking the door frame. To try and open it would wedge it in hard and block the door altogether. Steve's heart sunk.

"Are we stuck uncle Steve?" Grace asked, nervously. 

"Uh..." 

Steve did not want to he trapped with Grace. He really wasn’t sure what he could do to keep her calm. He couldn't even keep her father calm in a situation like this and he was an adult!

His heart rose again when he saw Kono stroll into the office determinedly. He thumped on the door.

"Kono! Hey Kono!" He yelled.

She paused and frowned. "Steve?"

Grace hopped up against the window to thump on it to get her attention and yelled, "Aunt Kono!"

Kono tried to push the door open from her side but it made no difference. The plasterboard just got more stuck which made it harder to try opening it again. 

"Steve, the door's jammed, are you okay in there?" she asked urgently.

"You okay Grace?" Steve asked.

He looked down at her and she looked back up at him as if neither of them were pressed up against the windows like puppies desperate to get adopted.

"Uh huh," she nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah we're fine. Is Danny around? He said he was going to the evidence locker," Steve said.

"The evidence locker has an emergency shut down survive that goes off when shi- stuff like this happens. If he was inside he's not getting out until all the safety breaches are checked. Let's focus on getting you two out huh?" Kono said.

"I think it's jammed on something, can you see what?" Steve asked.

"Nothing seems jammed, but it won't open. Let me go find help, I'll be right back!" Kono promised. 

Before they could stop her Kono ran off. She had already promised Chin she would bring him a file from his office that he needed to help reorder a case that had been disorganized in another office. This took priority. She was just letting him know.

Grace slumped down onto the couch with a heavy sigh. "Does that mean we're stuck here?"

It did. And since he had no idea how long they would be stuck for, Steve dug out his survival bag just in case.

"Look on the bright side. You're not alone, and you're not in an elevator. Things could be worse," he said.

"Could they?" Grace pouted.

It wasn't that she didn't like Steve, but he never went out of his way to spend time with her like others of her dads friends. Chin, for example, always greeted her with a hug and a smile even if it had been a really rough case. And Kono taught her to surf. Not to mention the monthly poker game that Kamekona kept a place for her at. But Steve seemed to shy away from her whenever Danny wasn’t around.

She got the feeling he didn’t like kids.

"And I've got my emergency supply kit down here too, so we've got plenty to eat and drink," Steve said.

Grace slid off of the couch and wandered over to kneel up on his desk chair and paw through the bag. Steve shoved it closer to her so she could look through it too. He smiled as she dug through it. She reminded him of the kids his team sheltered over a Christmas mission once. They had the same look of worry and curiosity on their faces as they uncovered whatever little presents that had been scraped together for them. 

That idea made him feel a little guilty. Being more comfortable just because she was scared was messed up. He knew that. But he couldn’t lie. 

"Dried oat bar? Army rationing? What is this? Don’t you have any chocolate or something?" Grace complained. 

Steve's face fell. Kids in warzones weren’t so picky.

"Sorry," he shrugged.

She sighed and dropped back down onto the desk chair. 

To keep himself busy, Duke collected up the zip locked evidence bags that had scattered across the floor and dropped them into a box. First things first, he needed them all safe before they could be sorted into where they needed to be. 

"Keep breathing Detective Williams, we've got plenty of oxygen in here," Duke assured him. 

"Yeah for now, but if we keep breathing like this-" Danny began, nervously. 

"Do you surf?" Duke asked.

Danny frowned, confused, and gripped the bars a little harder. "Do I surf? No I - I don’t like the water."

"Really? I'm sure I heard Officer Kalakaua say she was teaching you to," he said.

 _"Grace_ likes to surf. My daughter. I don’t," Danny explained. 

"Ah Grace. Of course. So you don't go with her?" Duke asked, calmly.

"Of course I do, she's my daughter, you think I’m gonna leave her alone on the ocean with a stranger? I love Kono but I don't - I don't trust the ocean enough to leave them unsupervised..." Danny muttered. The last thing he wanted to think about right now was what an earthquake could lead to this close to the ocean. "Although clearly I shouldn’t trust anything on this island because now my little girl is out there with _Steve_ of all people, wondering where her daddy is and I’m- I'm trapped in here about to die of suffocation in an evidence locker!"

"Look on the bright side. Steve's a good man. A loyal one. If you left him in charge he will make sure Grace is taken care of at all times," Duke said.

Danny grumbled to himself and tried to shake open the gate again. It still didn’t budge and he grunted in frustration. 

"He knows I'm down here, he should have brought her here by now!" He complained.

"You really want your daughter to see you behind bars?" Duke asked, pointedly. 

"I'm not-" Danny whipped his head around too fast and make himself queasy so he looked down at his feet instead. "I'm not behind bars! The least he could do is come here and tell me how he's going to get me out already!"

"Maybe there's more pressing engagements upstairs. Priorities are in place. You know the drill. It's our job," Duke said. 

Danny took a deep breath to try and swallow in his frustrations and let them out in a long sigh.

"I'm just trying really hard not to freak out," he muttered. 

Duke looked up at him. His shoulders eased sympathetically. Danny still hadn't really settled into island life so close to an active fault line. The storms he could understand and defend himself against, but earth quakes and tsunamis - well tsunamis were probably his biggest fear. Duke could see it in his eyes from the first tsunami warning.   
Duke picked up a clipboard that had been flung across the room, and pushed it across Danny's chest. There wasn’t much room between the boxes to get closer and be more polite about it. It was unceremonious.

"Here."

Danny took it and flicked through the pages curiously. They were a list of inventory going back years. 

"What’s this for?" He asked. 

"Well if you're not backing away from those bars to help me put this shelf up again, you can me match boxes and contents. Some of these have broken and will need replacing. Plus it'll keep your mind busy," Duke explained. 

Danny wasn't convinced but he also didn’t have any other options, so he just nodded. He tugged off his tie as he gasped for air and slid down the bars to sit on the floor.

He wasn't handling this well.

Grace tapped her toes together with a long and impatient sigh as she watched Steve muttering to himself. He was mentally going over the checklist for damage control to work out how long it would take for someone to come and help them. He had an idea of how to escape, but he needed someone to run it by Danny first so he would agree.

He didn't like his chances. 

"Is there anything to do? I’m bored," Grace complained. 

Steve's initial response reaction was to just say no, but he stopped himself. By pure coincidence an old friend of his had accidentally left a basketball in his office last time he came to visit. 

"I have a ball somewhere-"

It took a bit of digging around in the mess (he wasn’t sure how much of it was his fault and how much was the earth quake) but he drew it out with a flourish.  
Grace sat up. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting from him, but it wasn't this.

Steve felt a tug of victory in his chest at the way Grace sat up. Her eyes flickered with interest. Steve was so pleased he had found a way to connect to keep her calm. 

"You got a hoop?" she asked, hopefully. 

"No, but look what I can do," Steve smirked.

He lifted the ball to balance it on his index finger and spun it with his free hand to try and show off. He had to move his hand to keep up with the ball and when he couldn't he caught it and set it on his lap.

"Cool huh?" He grinned.

Grace looked unimpressed. "Cant you spin the ball?"

Steve's smile faded. "What, you aren’t impressed?"  
Grace snorted. She stood up, dusted her hands on her skirt, and held them out to Steve.

"Gimme."

Steve smirked as he tossed the ball her way. He clearly didn’t think she could do any better than him. Grace caught the ball with ease. Steve sat back on the flat of his desk to watch her, expectantly. 

Grace lined the ball carefully in her palm to ensure the lines were vertical. Then in one smooth move she threw it up while twisting it so it spun in the air. As it came back down she raised her finger to let it rest on her nail. The ball continued to spin on her nail without any intervention. 

Steve's eyes widened as he sat up straight. The arrogance had been wiped clean off of his face. Grace threw the ball again and caught it, bringing it close to her chest as she did. It was her turn to look cocky.

"Where'd you learn that?" Steve asked, amazed.

"Harlem Globe trotters came to my school in jersey to teach us," she shrugged.

Steve stared at her in disbelief. "Really?"

 _"No!_ Uncle Matt taught me!" Grace giggled. 

Steve's shoulders sagged as he realised he'd been had. She had made a fool of him. He smiled though. Grace had a really pretty laugh.

"It's easy, its just like spinning a pizza base," She said.

"You can make pizza base too?" Steve asked.

Grace nodded proudly, "Grammy taught me in New Jersey."

"Oh awesome, so you know how to make pizza?" Steve grinned.

Grace nodded like it was obvious. "Pop-Pop says every Williams needs to know how to cook three basic things, lasagne, pizza, and Bolognese."

"That's awesome. When we get out of here, I'm gonna come to yours and you can make me dinner," Steve smirked.

"Il Ristorante Williams," Grace declared, smiling.

"That's cute. D'you play chef with Grandma too?" Steve smiled.

"No, silly, with Danno!" Grace laughed, "He says a healthy home made meal is a loving meal."

Steve's smile was suddenly more affectionate than he intended it to be. "He does huh?"

Grace nodded. Her smile began to fade as she thought about her father. Kono had said he was stuck in the evidence locker. Grace wasn’t sure how big that was but she knew Danny had never been fond of small spaces. She had found that out when she desperately wanted to go down a waterslide as a kid but they wouldn't let her go without a parent to go with her. He had gone, of course, but the look of utter fear in his eyes afterwards was something Grace hadn't seen since and hoped she never would again. They didn’t go on the slide again after that. 

Seeing the concern in Grace's eyes, Steve felt the need to distract her. He nudged her arm gently.

"Hey, think you can teach me that trick?" He asked.  
Grace looked up at him and grinned.

"Evidence bag 896 dash Charlie, that's 896 dash _Charlie,_ containing a .48 bullet casing goes into box 32 Alpha." 

Processing, organizing, and categorizing evidence was a long and boring process, but it kept Danny's mind clear. That kept him calm. Right up until the moment Kono opened the outside door and Danny scrambled to his feet.

"Thank God! You have _no_ idea how happy I am to see you!" He laughed.

He had to laugh. If he didn't he'd scream. Kono smiled back but she kept her distance. What she had to say, he was not going to want to hear. 

"Hey, boss man said you were down here. Trapped by the system huh?" She forced a smile.

"The one day I agree to cover a shift in the evidence locker and what happens?" Duke joked.

Kono chuckled, "good one uncle."

"Uh, excuse me but I'm not a willing audience to your comedy routine okay? I am literally a captive audience, so please, I am begging you to get me out of here!" Danny said.

It was amazing how easily he could flow from bitter and frustrated to desperate in a sentence. Kono glanced to Duke for support. Both he and Danny could tell at a glance that the news was not good.

"Sorry but there’s still some systems rebooting. Some electrics got busted in the quake and it's gonna take a while to get the system up, secure and running again," Kono explained.

Danny gulped. "How long's a while?"

"That depends," she said.

"On what?" He asked, drily. 

"How long it takes us to break into Steve's office and free him and Grace," Kono said.

Danny's heart dropped and his chest tightened. _"Grace_ is trapped?! Let me out right now or I’m breaking this goddamn gate down I swear-"

"Hey, hey, chill! It's all under control, they're both perfectly fine, they’ve got food and drinks-" Kono began.

"What happens when food and drink runs out Kono? When they need to use the bathroom?! Then what?!" Danny demanded.

"We have a plan to get them out but it might be dangerous and as her legal guardian we need your permission first," she warned.

He frowned. "What?"

"We want to remove the glass from the window of his office and let them climb out," Kono explained.  
"That doesn't sound so dangerous," Danny said sternly. 

"It's not, but it means waiting for the fire crew to finish getting control of the emergency situations across town, and well, boss man isn’t known for his patience, so he's got a plan B," Kono explained. 

"Steve's got a plan B? Whatever it is, no," Danny said sternly.

"As he puts it, there’s more than one way to remove glass from a window," Kono said.

"No. No, absolutely not, he is not going to let my daughter climb through shattered glass just because he’s holed up in his office, no way!" Danny stated.

"Okay, that's all we need to hear," Kono promised.

"No, Kono, you know as well as I do that no means nothing to that Neanderthal, I need you to _promise_ me you will ensure he doesn't do anything stupid," Danny demanded

"I would love to make that promise but a pipeline got ruptured in the corridor outside the interrogation room and Chin and I are trying to manage that as well as everything else so I can't," Kono said.

"Did you try cutting off the water supply from the hydrant outside? Then you'll only be fighting the tanks," Duke suggested. 

"Great idea, I'll talk to Chin about it. We're gonna get to you two asap, okay?" Kono was already edging back for the door.

"I'm in no rush, take your time," Duke said.

"Do not - Kono - hey, Kono do not take you time! Do you hear me I said not!" Danny cried.

The door swung shut behind Kono as she left them behind. Danny let out a whimper masked in a sigh. Duke patted his shoulder sympathetically.   
"Ready for the next number?" He asked.

Danny groaned again and dropped his head on the gate. "Yeah..."

With Kono telling them they were going to have to sit tight and stay in Steve's office until the fire department arrived, Steve had two options. Firstly, most temptingly, he could break down the door. He was fairly certain that he could do it. There were screwdrivers in the bottom draw to take off the hinges too. He could break it down. But that might cause the ceiling to fracture more or the door to fall in on them. On Grace. He couldn't risk Grace getting hurt or Danny would be furious.

So he went for option two, and sat down on the floor, rolling the ball between him and her. 

"Do you have any cards in your magic bag Mary?" Grace asked.

Steve glanced up at her, eyebrows furrowed, "Mary?"

"Mary Poppins. She had a magic bag too," Grace explained. 

"Oh. Y’know my sister's name is Mary," Steve said.

"You have a sister?" Grace asked.

"I do, yeah," Steve nodded.

"Where is she?"

"Well she's on the mainland. I don't see her much."

"I wish I had a sister. Or a brother."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Grace shrugged. “Someone for company. I have to go between Moms and Danno's every week. The only one I have is Cupcake, and he's not allowed at Danno's apartment."

"Cupcake? Is he your rabbit?" Steve asked.

He had a vague recollection of Danny complaining about Grace getting a rabbit when he questioned him about having a large plus rabbit in his backseat. 

"No, that was Mopsey. She died," Grace said.

Steve's mouth opened as he realised he should say something but he didn’t know what. He settled on,

"Oh."

"Cupcake's the dog Danno gave me," Grace explained.

That dog Steve did remember. It had lived in his office for the duration of a mission, taking his seat in Danny's car, and leaving a mess in one of his shoes. He was not fond of that dog. 

"Right. Cupcake. How's he doing?" Steve asked.

"He's okay..." Grace muttered.

Steve paused. His instincts told him that she wasn't overly fond of that dog either. More than that, she was hiding something. Not very well, but she was trying. 

"What's wrong Gracie?" Steve asked.

Grace rolled the ball between her hands and refused to look up at him. Steve tilted his head at her. He was aware that if he said the thing that popped into his head at that moment he would be heading swiftly out of his depth. 

But that had never stopped him before. 

"I promise won't tell Danno."

Grace glanced up at him suspiciously. Steve raised one hand like he was making an oath and crossed his heart with the other. Grace pouted as she looked back down at the ball.

Very quietly, she muttered, "... I don't like Cupcake."

"You don’t?" Steve repeated.

Grace shook her head slightly. She didn't like to admit it since she knew he was a rescue and didn’t have anyone else, but the dog had made itself a pest. It growled a lot and liked to bark at the postman, which had been funny at first, but the postman came early and the barking woke her up every day. He also liked to chase things like wild chickens whether he was on his lead or not. They didn't have room in their house for a dog the size of Cupcake, let alone time to let him run off his energy on long walks like he needed. Rachel had only agreed to take him in because Danny made her feel guilty about their old dog. Grace had loved him because she had grown up with him. 

"Back home we had a dog, his name was Doctor Bones. I loved that dog. Mom said he had to stay in New Jersey with Danno, but when Danno followed us to Hawaii Bones wasn’t with him. No one will tell me what happened, so I guess he died too," Grace sighed.

Steve tried not to chuckle at that but it amused him to think that Danny would ever name his dog Doctor Bones. It amused him less when Grace's huge blue eyes looked to him for answers.

"Did he die Uncle Steve?"

Already Steve felt out of his depth. He knew the answer. He just wasn’t sure how to break it to an eight year old. Especially Danny's. If he said one thing wrong and upset her Danny would break him apart piece by piece. 

But her eyes weren't wide with hope like other kids. Deep down she already knew the answer, she just wanted it confirmed. Steve had seen that look before in people he had served beside. Even when they already knew the answer, they would burst into tears when they found out the truth. And that was a warzone. Grace had never known death yet. Not beyond a rabbit.

But Steve didn't want to lie.

"I heard he did, yeah."

He held his breath as Grace closed her eyes and hung her head. He tensed, waiting for her to start crying, but she didn’t. She sniffed, but she didn't have any tears. Steve reached over to pat her shin sympathetically because it was the closest part to him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Grace shook her head but she kept staring at the floor. "Cupcake isn’t anything like Doctor Bones. He eats all my toys and digs up the neighbours garden and barks all through the night. Stan says we should get rid of him but Mom says we cant because he was a present from Danno..."

"That's nice isn’t it?" Steve asked uncertainly. 

"I don't need presents. And you shouldn’t give a living animal as a present anyway," Grace stated.

"No, no you shouldn't. You’re right about that," Steve agreed dumbly.

He was lost. He was still expecting Grace to cry, but she didn’t look like she was going to. She didn’t even look particularly sad, she just looked disappointed. 

"But Step Stan did. He gave me Mopsey. And Danno gave me Cupcake. And I don't know what to do because Mom's always busy and she feels bad that she has to leave me alone so she wants me to play with the dog but..."

"But you don’t want to play with the dog, you wanna play with other kids, right?"

Grace finally looked at him again. Even her expression was sarcastic. "Other kids don’t know how to play poker."

Steve snorted. She had so much of her father in her. "No, I guess not."

Grace pushed the ball gently again and muttered, "Sometimes I feel like I'm different."

Steve's heart thumped in his chest. He thought about the kids he had seen while serving. The kids who had lost everything and had to face losing their lives too on a daily basis. He thought about the kids he saw around Waikiki. Happy, spoiled brats on vacation with their families who would probably not bother to leave the hotel pool let along experience any culture. He thought about the locals he knew and did his best to help from a distance. Kids who didn’t have much but had never known anything more so didn’t need to try to be happy.

Grace wasn't like any of them.

She had lost her family, but it had grown wider for it. She had lost her home in New Jersey but she had found a new one here in Hawaii. She had embraced the changes mostly willingly. Everything she was given she accepted but even she knew she didn't need it. She could be happy with less.

She definitely wasn't like most kids Steve knew, and as alienating as that may have been, it made it easier for him to talk to her. He wasn't as scared to now.

"You are different."

"I don't want to be different," she whined.

"That's not a bad thing to be Grace," he assured her gently. "Everyone's different. No two people are the same, like the grains of sands on a beach. They're unique. You're unique. It's not a bad thing."

There was a short pause as Grace scoffed. Under her breath she muttered, "That’s what Cupcake said."

Steve frowned, "The dog? You talk to the dog?"

"No one else listens."

"Huh... and he talks back?"

"He doesn't always answer. Usually he's asleep," she smiled to herself. 

"Right... You got a cell Gracie?" Steve asked, with a new determination. 

"Yeah, Step Stan gave it me," Grace nodded.

"Ah, right, another present. Gimme your phone- in fact, come here."

He held out an arm to wave her over. She hesitated so he flapped his hand to hurry her along. Grace picked up her phone and handed it to him. Steve tugged her gently down so she sat on the floor beside him, and laid an arm around her shoulders. He raised her phone up with the camera pointing at them.

"Ready? Smile!" 

Grace smiled uncertainly as Steve stuck out his tongue and threw up a shakra. He sat up to turn the phone around to check out the photo and laughed. 

"Oh, nice, we look great!"

Grace smiled but her eyebrows still furrowed with confusion as he tapped something into her phone. She was surprised at how easily he managed to type it all in. Her father couldn't use his phone like that. He was all thumbs. Steve tossed the phone up for her to catch it.

"There. Now if you need someone to talk to, you can phone your old uncle Steve," he said, firmly.  
Grace looked down at the new contact card in her phone. She smiled to herself. Maybe Steve wasn’t as grumpy as he always seemed to be.

"Can uncle Steve play cards?" Grace asked hopefully.

"I don't have cards, but I have post it notes and permanent markers. We can make our own. You take red, I'll do black," Steve winked.

Grace beamed. "Okay!"

Steve handed her a packet of post it notes and a red pen from his desk and picked up a black one for himself. They sat on the floor together as they quietly created their own deck of cards to play with. Grace was laying on her stomach, happily moving from hearts to diamonds as Steve chewed his pen lid thoughtfully. He couldn't quite visualise what a club was supposed to look like. Before he could pinpoint the memory, there was a clattering noise from above them. 

Then a clunk. 

Then some dust from the ceiling scattered down around them. 

Steve clenched his jaw as he stared at the ceiling, waiting for any sign that something more dangerous was about to happen. Grace stared up too, open mouthed and wide eyed.

"What was that?" She asked nervously.

Steve glanced at her. The fear in her eyes was unmistakable. His heart went out to her.

"I'm sure it was nothing," he lied, reassuringly. 

"But what if it wasn’t?" She asked nervously. 

Steve didn't have an answer for that. It could easily be something structural no one had picked up on yet. It could just as easily be someone upstairs who dropped something hard on a weak bit of floor. Right now it was impossible to know which. But she still looked terrified. Steve took her hand.

"Y’know when i was your age, my mom taught me how to do magic. It always used to distract me when I was feeling blue because I could never figure out how she'd do it," he said, warmly.

"Do what?" Grace asked. 

It had been a while since Steve had done any kind of magic trick and he felt slightly rusty, but he gave it a go anyway to distract her. He sat up properly and showed her his pen.

"If I put enough magic into this pen, I can make it move without touching it," he declared. 

Grace gave him a look of cynicism that could rival her fathers. Both had been to Coney Island Fair. Both remembered the arresting of the psychic and her pickpocket assistant who fed her the information he lifted from phones and wallets. Grace had stopped believing in magic that day. Steve gave her a mischievous look.

"Watch."

He started by rubbing the pen on his leg to build up a static charge. At least that’s what Grace assumed. He said he was embedding magic into it. She didn't believe him. Steve adjusted his position so that he was on his knees as he set it on the floor.

"Ready?" He teased, smirking. 

Grace nodded. She was clearly still unconvinced by him. Steve waggled a finger in the air, and waved it over his pen. Nothing happened. Grace snorted. Steve frowned at her.

"Alright, alright, I just have to get closer so that I can really focus my magic energy into it!" He declared.

She scoffed. Steve rose to the challenge though. He laid right down on his stomach, and stared hard at the pen. Curious, Grace laid down on her stomach opportunity him. Both of them focused on the pen.   
Once again, Steve raised his finger. Grace stared at the pen, expectantly. 

And it moved.

She shot up like she had been electrocuted. Steve snorted. He moved his hand again. The pen followed. Grace gasped. She started up at him with renewed wonder in her eyes.

"How'd you do that?!" She demanded.

"Magic," Steve grinned.

"No really," she insisted. 

He chuckled. It had worked. She was definitely distracted. He held out the pen for her to try herself. Grace glanced between him and the pen uncertainly, before she took it and set it on the desk, ready to move it without touching. She frowned harder as she kept failing. Steve smiled to himself. He now understood the gleeful amusement his mother always had watching him try and unravel the simplest of tricks. Grace thumped the table in frustration. 

"This is impossible! How did you do it uncle Steve!" She demanded. 

"I'll show you if you promise never to tell anyone," he smirked. 

"I won't," she insisted.

"You swear?" His eyes twinkled.

"I swear," Grace promised.

Danny had come to the conclusion that they were never going to be rescued. He had also made a decision never to leave his phone on his desk again. Ever. The one solace he had after all this, was that he and Duke had managed to sort almost everything back into it's right box. Now Duke was sorting boxes into two piles. The first pile was for boxes that were fine to go back on the shelves as soon as they knew where on said shelf they went. The second pile was for damaged boxes that needed to be replaced before they could be put away again. Most of them were older cases. Cold cases or settled ones. Forgotten boxes.

"A good thing about the ocean," Duke explained in the same calm soothing tone he had always used after his daughter had a nightmare, "Is that it's big."

"Big?" Danny repeated, drily.

It wasn't just _big_ to him. It was _huge._ And it was _deep._ And the water was working against you. At least he hoped the water was working against you. Because the alternative was that the water just didn’t care whether or not you existed and that was far more scary. 

"It's big," Duke nodded, calmly. 

"And that's good, why?" Danny asked drily.

"Because you can stand on the shore, looking out, and never see the end. The ocean is wide. It's open. It's unrestrained. You look around from a ship and what do you see?" Duke asked. 

"An endless expanse of open water void of any help if you were to get into distress," Danny said, bitterly.

Duke rolled his eyes. It was difficult to help Danny calm his anxieties when he wouldn't even try. None the less he persisted. 

"I see freedom," Duke said.

"Freedom? From the water that's rapidly rising to swallow up land and drown us in our beds?" Danny's scoff masked the terror in his chest.

"If we don’t look after mother earth how can we be surprised when she retaliates?" Duke asked seriously.

"It's not mother earth I have a problem with its what's on it! The sea, the animals, the people- that’s where the problem is! The planet its self I'm fine with," Danny's voice was just a bit too tight.

Duke suddenly realised why Danny wasn't playing ball. He couldn't ease his anxiety about small spaces with the endless expanses of the ocean if he was also scared of the ocean. 

"Detective Williams are you scared of the ocean?" Duke asked, plainly. 

Danny scowled. "Uh, no. No I am not. I just have a healthy respect for not becoming shark chum!"

Duke chuckled. That certainly explained one or two things about Danny's unwillingness to integrate with island life. It was, after all, deeply entwined with the ocean. 

"What aren't you afraid of Detective?" Duke asked, earnestly.

Danny scowled still and demanded, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Where do you feel most comfortable? Where are you at home? Close your eyes and tell me what you see," Duke asked. 

"That's stupid," Danny scoffed. 

"Imagination is the only way out of here right now, you might as well try imagining somewhere happy," Duke snipped.

He was getting frustrated, and Danny could tell. It took a lot more to annoy Duke than Danny had seen and if he was the only one here to help him, Danny didn’t want to be the one to push him over the edge. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to guide him.

"I'm in New Jersey," he said.

Obviously. Duke could have kicked himself for not coming up with that earlier. 

"Where?" He asked. 

In his mind Danny looked around. "Sal's Diner."

"What’s it like?" Duke pressed.

"Um... It's winter outside. There’s snow everywhere," Danny explained. 

He could see the snow around him and feel the wool of his gloves even though his fingers were numb form the bend to the tips. It was beginning to draw him in. Duke saw that. He noted the way that Danny's breathing slowed while he kept his eyes shut.

"But what's it like inside?" Duke asked. 

"When I walk in the whole place is warm. It smells like fresh coffee and pecan pie. Sal's an old family friend, when I walk in the bell jingles above the door and he looks up from the stove. He fights his way out of the kitchen to greet me. All smiles and curls - he’s got this big bushy moustache, he looks like that guy from Queen!" Danny laughed.

"Freddie Mercury?" Duke smiled as he tried to picture what Danny was remembering.

"Yeah him, with the big moustache, except short and fat with grease in his hair and a tank top on under his apron," Danny grinned. 

"Sounds like a character," Duke said.

"He is. He's all hugs and punches. We put up our fists and pretend to box like always. Sal tells Grace how I was a great boxer when I was young and how I could have gone pro if I hadn’t become a cop. How much safer the city is with me looking out for them... Grace looks proud. She's so tiny, but she's so proud of me already and I think, I don’t ever want to let this little angel down..."

Danny's smile faded slightly. That look on Grace's face was one he had always wanted to remember. She had looked so proud that her father was important. She didn't understand why but he was important. And he never wanted her to stop looking at him like that. But here they were, five years later, trapped by an earthquake and he didn't even know if she was still okay.

Unaware of his new internal doubt, Duke encouraged him to go on. "Carry on, you're in Sal's. Find a table."

"There aren't tables at Sal's there's booths!" Danny corrected, "This ugly turquoise vinyl booths that have cracks in them from years of use. They've been worn down by so many butts they're more comfortable than half the places in the city! We sit by the window so that Grace can see the Christmas lights. She loves them y’know. She thinks they're magic."

"Why?"

"She says they make the city pretty colours and the rest of the year its all grey... she's right. She's always loved colours. Kids - kids like colourful things, y’know? Roxy gives her some crayons and she tries to mix them on the paper. Roxy pours us both a hot coco with whipped cream on the house. She says she feels sorry for us because our noses are red. She says "if you stayed out there much longer you'd put old Rudolph out of business" and Gracie, Gracie says-"

Danny paused. Duke glanced his way. He had let him get away with not explaining who Roxy was - context clues suggested she was their waitress - but now he had stopped mid sentence. Either he was a terrible story teller or he had forgotten parts of what he was saying. 

"What did Grace say?"

"I can't... I can't remember..." 

Danny sounded upset by it. Duke wasn't sure how he could help. Trying to force a memory usually just pushed it further away. Fortunately for him, Danny just cleared his throat and carried on regardless. 

"I remember we laughed though. I remember thinking how lucky I was that my daughter was a funny as..."

Duke rolled his eyes. "Don't stop. C'mon, she's as funny as who? As you? Do you think you’re funny Detective Williams?"

"No, as... As Rachel," Danny muttered. Duke's eyebrows rose. He hadn't heard him compliment her before. "One of the first things I fell for was her laugh. I know its cliché but when we used to laugh it was like everything was okay in the world y’know? Like we were always gonna be okay as long as we could laugh..."

"Start laughing Danny, we're busting you out!"

Danny's eyes flew open as Chin reached the gate opposite him. He was happily swinging the keys between his fingers to show them that he was serious. Danny's face lit up with relief as the gate opened.

"Oh my God Chin! I could kiss you, come here!" Danny declared.

He threw his arms around Chin. Chin laughed until Danny got close enough to risk kissing him. Danny was so happy to be free he made kissing noises as a threat and Chin pulled back.

"I'm okay, really," he insisted. 

Danny's attention turned to Kono. She took a step back before he could say anything. 

"Don't- Don't try it," she warned.

He laughed, but then more important matters came to mind. "Where's my daughter?"

Steve had gotten bored and when Steve got bored stupid things tended to happen. Grace, who had now learned two new magic tricks, was helping him with his latest trick. An act of escapology. Meaning that Grace was sitting on Steve's shoulders to see what was blocking the door. When it turned out to just be some of the plaster of the ceiling they both felt foolish for not trying this earlier. Much earlier. It took a lot of effort and Steve had to hold onto her waist to support her as she broke the ceiling panel all over again. It snapped it half and dropped to Steve's feet where it crumbled.

"You okay? Did it hit you?" he coughed through the cloud of dust.

"No," she coughed back, “I got it. Try the door."

It swung open like it had never been stuck. Steve laughed triumphantly. 

"Mind your head," he warned.

Grace held on tight and squealed with laughter as Steve ducked low enough to fit her though the door while still on his shoulders. 

Danny sped up down the corridor when he heard her laughter. His heart was beating fast with fear that could only be eased by seeing her. She giggled madly as Steve held onto her ankles to keep her up. Danny burst through the glass doors and slowed. This was not what he had expected or wanted to see.

"Put her down! Put her down right now!" He demanded to Steve. 

Not one to argue with his partner when his tone was like this, Steve knelt down enough for Grace to climb onto the table and jump down to the floor.

"Danno!" She laughed. 

Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh brought back the good in his memories. Danny couldn't ever describe the joy of the relief racing through him. He hoped he would never feel it again. Grace hugged Danny round the middle as Danny bundled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head repeatedly. 

"I'm so glad you’re okay monkey!" He breathed.

Grace pulled back and beamed at him. "Look what uncle Steve taught me!"

Danny was reluctant to let her go but she looked so excited to show off. Steve leaned on the table beside Danny to watch the magic act. Grace showed them both a quarter, rolled up both her sleeves to prove she had no where to hide it, and waved her hands in front of her face. Steve watched as the coin got tucked into her collar. It was a difficult hide, but she had practiced repeatedly. She had Danny fooled.

"Great, now you can make my money disappear just like he does," he joked half heartedly.

"I pay my way!" Steve argued.

"You don't even know the code for the padlock on your wallet!" Danny scoffed.

"Was it a good trick though Danno?" Grace grinned. 

"Yeah monkey. You did great," he grinned back.

His chest eased whenever she was in front of him but none more so than right now. He utterly melted inside when she smiled at him like that. Danny loved her more than anything in the world.

Steve elbowed him and flashed him a grin. "How did I do?"

Danny blinked at him. "Are you seriously looking for compliments right now you Neanderthal?"

"I did a good job, I would like that recognised!" Steve argued. 

Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was supposed to be ten minutes. He was supposed to be gone ten minutes. He didn’t even want to leave her with his danger magnet ass for ten minutes, but he risked it. Four and a half hours later and now Steve expected compliments too?!

"Good job uncle Steve!" Grace beamed proudly.

"Mahalo Gracie," Steve grinned back.

Danny blinked. The two of them seemed different some how. Closer. Danny should have expected a bonding experience like this to bring those two together but he had been too busy panicking. Clearly while he was a mess, Steve had stepped up. Now he felt a little guilty for doubting him.

"Good uh... good job Uncle Steve, alright?" He muttered.

Steve's eyebrows shot up in shock, but he lit up. Danny cleared his throat sheepishly. Steve's dazzling smile made him feel funny and he had had quite enough of that today.

"Now if you excuse me I want to step outside and breath some fresh, oxygenated air before we get started on recovery. Come on Grace," he said.

Grace threw her arms around Steve, hugging him tightly. Steve looked even more surprised than ever. Danny raised an eyebrow. Maybe he really have a way with kids that he didn't show off. Maybe there was a whole other side to Steve that Danny never saw. It looked like Grace knew something he didn’t anyway.

"Bye uncle Steve. Thanks for keeping me safe," she beamed.

Steve smiled back at her. He looked astounded that he had managed to break through and step up for her. He was. But he was utterly delighted to have done so. Steve wanted to spend more time with her now. The kid was special. Right now, all he could do was wave as Danny hurried towards the exit.

"See you soon."


End file.
